ABSTRACT

It is axiomatic that high-quality leadership preparation programs must be staff ed by a critical mass of faculty members who collectively have the foundational knowledge, skills, and commitments to educate the next generation of aspiring school leaders. In 1987 the National Commission on Excellence in Educational Administration (NCEEA), advocating for the improvement of educational leadership program quality, asserted that faculties “should have varied academic backgrounds and experience” and “should refl ect balanced diversity” (p. 21), so that they would evidence the necessary academic preparation and administrative experience base to provide quality learning experiences for their students. Because educational leadership is a professional area of study, it is vitally important for faculty to maintain connections with the fi eld and to provide opportunities for aspiring administrators to apply classroom theory to practice (Foster, 1988). Yet, sustaining these connections can be challenging when professors, particularly those working in research universities, are promoted and rewarded primarily based upon their research and scholarly activities (Griffi ths, Stout, & Forsyth, 1988; McCarthy, 1999c). Consequently, educational leadership faculty members oft en are torn between addressing the needs of the fi eld and fulfi lling the performance expectations of their institutions (Young, Petersen, & Short, 2002).